Comparing negative emotion differentiation in young and older individuals
A picture‐based study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21392088 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mai B Mikkelsen (0000-0002-9730-913X, Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark, corresponding author), Mia Skytte O’Toole (0000-0002-9155-8426, Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark), Mimi Yung Mehlsen (0000-0001-5820-8937, Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 513-517 |
| Publication date | 2020-08-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Scandinavian Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0036-5564 • E-ISSN: 1467-9450 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/sjop.12615 |
| PMID | 31951669 |
| OpenAlex | W3000381462 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 36 |
Life span theories suggest that emotional experiences become more complex (i.e., nuanced and differentiated) with age. Theoretically, the cause of this increased complexity has been proposed to be age‐related changes in life contexts such as goals and daily stressors. Consequently, age may not affect emotional complexity in settings where the influence of age‐specific life contexts is reduced. However, this hypothesis has yet to be explored. In the present study, we investigated one aspect of emotional complexity, namely emotion differentiation. Extending previous research, we assessed age‐group differences in negative emotion differentiation between young and older adults in a controlled experimental setting. A sample of 114 young and 132 older adults rated their emotional response to 34 negative pictures according to intensity of four negative emotions. Based on these ratings, two indicators of emotion differentiation were calculated. The results revealed no significant age‐group differences in negative emotion differentiation. The findings indicate stability in negative emotion differentiation with increasing age when the influence of life context is reduced. The findings are consistent with life span theories suggesting that developmental changes in emotional complexity occur largely as a result of age‐related changes in life contexts rather than more stable age‐related changes in individual characteristics
Affect (linguistics) · Context (archaeology) · Developmental psychology · Life span · Negative emotion · Stressor · Young adult · Aging and Gerontology Research · Clinical Psychology · Health disparities and outcomes · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction · Psychology · Gerontology
Unpacking Emotion Differentiation
Knowing what you're feeling and knowing what to do about it
Reported exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stressors
Chapter 4 Affect as a Psychological Primitive
The Nencki Affective Picture System (Naps)
Equivalence Tests
Beyond Age Comparisons
Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect
Time-based indicators of emotional complexity
Effects of normal aging and Alzheimer's disease on emotional memory
Emotion differentiation moderates aggressive tendencies in angry people
The Complexity of Emotions in Later Life
Emotional experience in everyday life across the adult life span
Why I don’t always know what I’m feeling
Psychological Resilience and Positive Emotional Granularity
Strength and vulnerability integration
The relation between valence and arousal in subjective experience
| Highly cited | No |
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